Summer is a time of relaxation and extra family connections, of barbecues and vacations, but it can also be a time of great stress and eye problems. Sharon Kleyne, host of the nationally syndicated The Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water, Global Climate Change and Your Health radio program sponsored by Nature’s Tears® EyeMist® on VoiceAmerica, has been teaching listeners for years that eye strain and dry eye disease symptoms cause stress and anxiety and too often result in even more serious vision problems. For example, according to Kleyne, too much stress can cause the tear film in the eyes to lose water via accelerated evaporation and become dehydrated.

Kleyne, founder of Bio-Logic Aqua® Research Water Life Science®, says that the situation has never been so bad. “Direct sunlight and the heat are punishing eyes,” says Kleyne, “and nowadays so many people spend hours and hours texting, watching television, playing video games and working on computers. You see people everywhere with red, swollen and bleary eyes,” says Kleyne. “You can see the stress and anxiety literally etched on their faces.”

Kleyne and her research center specializing in supplementing the evaporation of body water and earth’s water vapor developed and patented its signature product, Nature’s Tears® EyeMist®. Consisting of Trade Secret tissue culture grade fresh water with no additives and applied to the eyes as a patented fine mist from a hand-held, portable personal humidifier, the product painlessly and instantly soothes the eye and eye film. That tear film, by the way, is naturally 99% water.

The eye/stress connection, according to Kleyne, has to do with the fact that the eyes are very close to the brain and the two are “hard-wired” together. Any trauma to the brain will affect the eyes and vice-versa. Many emotions affect the eyes, including sadness, joy, depression and stress. Kleyne’s research has discovered that prisoners and people who are emotionally unstable tend to have more vision problems than those who are more stress-free.

Dry eye complaints tend to be very bad in summer because of the higher heat and more time spent exposed to air conditioning. Indoor air tends to have lower water vapor content. The loss of tear film moisture to evaporation triggers numerous hormonal responses in the eyes, including an inflammatory reaction and a threat alert.

To avoid stress and irritation issues, Kleyne suggests wearing good sunglasses when outside. She also recommends setting a limit to the number of hours you work on computer or text or watch TV. Kleyne believes that by being proactive about your eye health, you can greatly reduce your stress.

To avoid dry eyes, eye strain and associated stress, Kleyne also recommends drinking at least eight to ten full glasses of water each day, in addition to all other fluid intake. If you begin to feel stress, or your eyes feel uncomfortable, a soothing, all-natural, pH balanced fresh water mist such as Nature’s Tears® EyeMist® will quickly supplement the tear film’s water content and alleviate tear film dehydration and dry eye complaints.